Babysitting
by Raico
Summary: After years of working for Tony Stark, Pepper knows why being a babysitter WAS included in the job description.


This came from watching an interview with RDJ where he replicated a scene which Tony and Pepper using one giant Iron Man action figure and a smaller Iron man action figure. I found it entirely cute and it got me thinking. That and I decided that I just had to get it written down...instead of working on the gazillion other stories I have. That's my brain for ya. And I had to get it posted as soon as I was done, so it's not edited. Please, excuse me for that.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Iron Man, Marvel, Hasbro, Starbucks, any shows I mentioned, or Barbie. Though I would loooove Tony Stark if you're willing to spare him...I doubt it though.

**Summary:** Pepper recalls something that was included in her job description.

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When Pepper first because Tony Stark's PA, she was briefed over what her job description would include. Organizing his meetings and calls, making sure he was where he needed to be, dry cleaning, whatever his needs were.

There was one thing she noticed in the written description that they didn't tell her verbally. Pepper has come to learn over the years that that little unmentioned detail is actually a big part of dealing with Anthony Edward Stark.

Babysitter.

It had stuck her as odd, going over the papers on her couch a few hours after she had gotten the job. As far as she knew, Mr. Stark didn't have any children and he was an only child according to the news reels.

Her first encounter with that area of her job was about three weeks into the job. From what she was told, this was longer than other assistants had survived.

Pepper could understand why. More than twice she had to persuade herself not to quit.

It was a Friday and the weekend was looking glorious. She was actually anxious to get to work just because it would make time go by faster if she was working on something. Pulling up through the gated driveway of Tony Stark's beach-side hi-tech mansion, Pepper tapped nervously on her steering wheel.

Jarvis greeted her, something she still found slightly unnerving, and automatically opened the front side door as she balanced her briefcase and two cups of Starbucks black coffee- she knows he likes it with sugar and cream, but he refuses to let her add anything into it- then heads into the living room.

She drops her briefcase and her coffee onto the small over-priced end-table- she holds onto his coffee in case she needs it for bribery- and prepares herself to either usher out some bimbo left in her boss' bedroom or force him awake and into a shower.

"Jarvis?"

Pepper waits for him to give her one of two responses: "Mr. Stark requires you to clean out his bedroom" or "Mr. Stark is currently trapped in his sheets on his bedroom floor."

Surprisingly, she gets neither.

"You will find Mr. Stark downstairs in his workshop, Miss Potts."

She's sure that she looks about as confused as she feels. Walking slowly down the metal stairs that led to Tony's sanctum, Pepper isn't quite sure what's she's going to find, his coffee steaming in her hand. Maybe he took one of his "friends" down to "look" at his car. Hopefully he blew himself up while experimenting.

Imagine her surprise upon finding him in pajama pants and a muscle shirt with hair in disarray from sleep, sitting on the concrete floor in front of his huge TV…watching cartoons.

Freakazoid, of all things.

On his left was a jug of milk, most of it gone, and his right was a tipped over- empty- box of Fruity Pebbles. His eyes never once left the screen as he poured more milk into his bowl, half of it slopping over and some dripping down his chin as he scooped a spoon full into his mouth.

Babysitter. Huh…

"Mr. Stark?"

"Shh, Potts, talk during the commercial."

Her toe taps against the floor and she huffs in annoyance. A thought passed through her head after remembering the one time she spent the night with her sister and found her nephew watching morning cartoons.

"Jarvis, how long has he been in front of the TV?" He's not even a foot away from the screen and she's worried his retinas are burning out of his skull.

"Two hours and nine minutes. He awoke at five am to watch an episode of the Animaniacs, and then briefly carried his breakfast down here. He has not moved since."

Great, his eyes are beyond repair.

Finally, a commercial for a new line of Spiderman toys appears and he turns to her, mouth still full of Fruity Pebbles, "Oh, hey, Potts. You here already? Ooh, coffee."

Pepper takes a deep breath to calm herself and nods, "I arrived ten minutes ago, Mr. Stark-" she hands him his coffee-"You need to shower and dress, then I'll brief you for the meeting you have in two hours."

"Reschedule it. They're showing classic cartoons this morning and there's no way I'm missing Pinky and the Brain. Hand me the sugar there. Thanks."

"Mr. Stark, I can't reschedule-"

"Do it. Oh, and can you run and get me some more cereal? Better yet, get a few different kinds. The more variety the better."

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" She's been asking this a lot and it's become routine now.

"That will be all, Miss Potts."

She resists the urge to sigh, watching as he douses half a bag of sugar into his coffee and practically chugs it, and heads back upstairs.

Babysitter definitely belonged in the job description.

Pepper is reminded of that day years later as she throws her briefcase onto the couch, flips on the TV, and downs her coffee in a few gulps. Experience tells her she's going to need it and there's bound to be five more cups in store for her.

By now, she knows exactly how much sugar goes into Tony's coffee. About half a bag. Enough to keep a kid on a permanent sugar high for a month. She also doesn't bother asking Jarvis where he is because he's been sleeping down on the cot in his workroom for a few days.

He does that a lot when he's fixing the suit or doing upgrades.

Her heels clack sharply as she heads downstairs, his half-sugar-syrup-half-coffee in her hands. Pepper's stepping through the gaping hole of what used to hold glass panes, ready to drag Tony awake, when the sound of a TV catches her attention.

Freakazoid again.

Then another sound: Tony. Well, more like Tony with a high pitched voice. The more she walks into the room, the more she notices that it's the voice he makes when he mocks her.

He's sitting there at his workstation, back to her, in jeans he had on last night. Shirtless, but that's nothing new. She's seen everything, unwillingly majority of the time. He still hasn't noticed her standing just a few feet away.

"_Oh, you're so amazing, Iron Man. You're so much better than your friend, War Machine. Red and Gold is so-"_

"What in the world are you doing?"

Tony jumps about a foot in the air before catching himself on the edge of the worktable, keeping him from spilling onto the floor. An abandoned Iron Man action figure- the foot tall version with removable parts, not the six incher where only the helmet comes off- is lying pitifully on the table.

There's something else in his hand, but he's tucked it underneath his arm and trying very hard to keep it out of view.

"Hey, Pep. Didn't see you there. Is that coffee?"

"What are you hiding?"

"Nothing."

"Now."

A small thud emits from behind him and his eyes shift around, lips pressed together. She only raises an eyebrow.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"Jarvis?"

"I believe that would be the custom doll Mr. Stark had made of you, Miss Potts."

"Traitor."

Pepper struggles to control her breathing and only years of dealing with this man keeps her from slapping him upside the head.

"Custom doll?"

"Okay, before you get all angry and all, totally not my idea. Hasbro sent me the new series for Iron Man and when I was talking to the guy I joked about making one of you then we got really talking and joking then he actually made one just for kicks and giggles and he just so happened to send it with this version-"

"You had a doll made of me!"

"Really, did you not hear a word I said?"

Pepper quickly moves passed him to the doll on the floor. Twelve inches. Its twelve inches tall. Great.

She's staring down at the thing as if it's a dead creature, turning it over and ignoring Tony who's quickly put his Iron Man figure back onto the stand they sent to him. Next to the six-incher and the two-incher.

The doll disturbingly looks like her in Barbie version, complete with heels and black business suit. It has bright red hair and upon inspection she realizes it also has bigger breasts than her.

She feels like hitting Tony over the head with it.

"Mr. Stark, aren't you a little too old to be playing with dolls?"

He snatches it from her and shoves it into the drawer underneath the table, "I am not playing with _dolls_, Potts, just making sure all the specifications I asked were there. Can't have those crazy toy makers exaggerating on certain areas. Though I think you should have been made a big shorter because you're practically as tall as the suit and that's just not plausible."

Pepper hands him the cooling cup of coffee, feeling a migraine beginning to form in the back of her head. Thirty minutes upon getting to work. New record.

"Colonel Rhodes is scheduled to meet with you in three hours. Wash, dress, and be ready in an hour or I'm telling Jarvis to paint the suit pink with glitter, Stark."

"Someone's a little grouchy this morning."

She's starting to head back out to get everything ready for the day when she pauses, turning back around.

"Oh and Mr. Stark?"

Tony looks up dejectedly from the spot where he's stuffed her doll, looking all the more like a kid who was put in timeout, "Yes, Miss Potts?"

Pepper smiles, spine a little straighter than a few minutes before, "Hasbro will be sending the first version of the War Machine action figure next Monday."

She pauses and her smile grows a bit bigger.

"It's fifteen inches tall and has six different sayings."

And with that she heads back upstairs, hearing him grumble all the way up. Yes, babysitting definitely belonged in the job description, but hell, they never said she had to be a _nice_ babysitter.

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**Review and let me know what ya think. Might do more oneshots, but we'll have to see. Yeah, just REVIEW!**


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